2510 AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 



men. The frozen herring business can only be carried on in the winter 

 when the weather is cold. If a man sets his net for bait and gets more 

 herring than he wants to use, he salts them in barrels; that is the only 

 Avay he can utilize them at this time. In the winter season they fit out 

 exclusively for this frozen herring business, but there are times in the 

 winter season when thaws come on and soft weather; then, if a man sets 

 his nets out and catches tish, he can't freeze them, and he then pickles 

 them in barrels. But there is no way they can make so much money 

 out of heiring as freezing them and selling them in a frozen state; it 

 requires no barrels and no salt, and the outlay is labor altogether. 



Q. Well, by whom is the catching of herring for the purpose of freez- 

 ing conducted generally ? A. Mostly altogether in our vicinity by Do- 

 minion fishermen. There is a small number of fishermen at Eastport 

 that, when there is no herring there, would go down to Letite and Back 

 Bay, and amongst the islands; but the number of Dominion fishermen 

 is very small. 



Q. What is the proportion of the foreign fishing compared with that 

 of the natives at Grand Mauau ? A. I think Eastport does not send 25 

 boats or vessels in the frozen herring business on the shores of the Do- 

 minion of Canada. Perhaps in relation to that I had better state a cir- 

 cumstance: there are a good many people living at Eastport who are 

 British subjects; they have British vessels; they fish in British vessels. 

 On the other hand, there is a number of American vessels that have been 

 owned and are owned at Deer Island and other places on the Dominion 

 side, that are owned and sailed by Dominion men, but still are under 

 American register; they have never been transferred. But the number 

 of Americans who leave our place to go fishing for frozen herring is 

 comparatively small in proportion to the whole number engaged in the 

 business. 



Q. What is done with these frozen herring, are they shipped? A. 

 Yes, sir. There is a good many of these bought at Eastport by the 

 people there who engage in that business, and are shipped on the steamer 

 to Boston. But a large quantity is sold to American vessels that go 

 there and buy them. 



Q. For the purpose of bait ? A. No ; mostly for food. I should sup- 

 pose those that come for bait only take small quantities. Those that 

 come from Gloucester carry away full loads. 



Q. Well, besides these two herring fisheries, what are the fisheries 

 around Grand Manan ? A. The fishing around Grand Munan is codfish, 

 pollock, haddock, and hake. 



Q. Are these fisheries within three miles of the shore or off shore ? 

 A. Some are within three miles. 



Q. Which ? Tell the Commissioners where the fisheries are, as a 

 rule. A. There is a time early in the spring and late in the fall when 

 the fish come in close to the shores at Grand Mauari, codfish and haddock 

 principally. The haddock around Grand Manan is caught inshore 

 mostly altogether mostly within the three-mile limit. The pollock and 

 codfish are mostly caught outside of the three-mile limit. Gravelly 

 ground is a great place for pollock, and that, in my judgment, is without 

 the limit. The hake fishing, since trawling has commenced, they have 

 gone off shore, it was always supposed that you had to get a muddy 

 bottom to catch hake. This trawling business has brought up a 

 new idea, and the fishermen have found their best hake last year and 

 this year on hard bottom between Campobello and Grand Manan in 

 deep water larger fish and more of them and the fleet of vessels that 

 have followed hake fishing this year have most all exclusively confined 



